Ever since the scene in Crazy, Stupid Love… the scene where Ryan Gosling makes a cocktail for Emma Stone… I’ve wanted to make bitters.

Really.

That’s been my driving force.

hu. miliating.

I mean, I’ve had bitters in my cocktails for years and have enjoyed them, but it was that – a freaking movie scene! – that sealed the deal. I was making them.

So bitters are occasionally described as the “salt and pepper” of cocktails or something like that. They add a little kick to some drinks and are staples in others like manhattans and the old fashioned. The most common bitters and the ones you’ve probably had before are angostura bitters, but the recipe is a big time secret and apparently only known by a handful of people in the universe. Fancy!

SO we just make our own. Cool? Cool.

[my glass is smudged. i fail.]

In all my hours of bitter research (and boy, do I mean hours), I learned a few things. Minor things but major things. For instance, there isn’t really a “true recipe” for creating bitters. It’s a lot of trial and error, it depends on your own palette, it depends on the herbs you have access to and things like that.

I discovered multiple methods that called for bittering agents (herbs and barks that you purchase) to sit for two days up until two months; methods that called for bitters to be made in one jar and one jar only; methods that called for six or seven separate jars for one ultimate flavor.

My brain was in complete bitter overload and about to explode.

Oomph.

I decided to just go with it. I knew I wanted to make a bunch of crazy flavors because, well… it’s me and nothing can even be classy and simple. Cherry vanilla topped the list, but so did chocolate. I decided to make both of those and used three separate jars: one for the main flavor (cherry and chocolate, respectively), one for the spice undertones and one for the bittering agents.

I also made some grapefruit bitters which only required two jars, and for the hell of it… made one-jar bitters at the last minute. The craziest thing is that I ended up LOV.ING. them.

The other thing about bitters is that once you have your flavored liquid and your bittering liquid (aside from the one-jar bitters mentioned above), they can become as sweet or as bitter as you’d like. This obviously takes a lot of (fun!) play time, taste testing and edits. There is no wrong answer – if it’s too sweet, add more of the bittering liquid. If it’s too bitter… more sweet flavor.

There are a few cases (the grapefruit and the chocolate) where I added a hint of simple syrup to really bring out the flavor. I loved the result with this. Oh and one thing I didn’t do was add any water to my mixtures. I found some methods did and some did not, and after lots of tasting I decided to forgo that option.

That means they are STA-RONG. Strong strong strong.

But it’s cool. You only need a few drops.

OMG. are you so totally bored? Hope not.

I’m almost done anyway. Then I will leave you to read the longest recipe in the universe. I’m still trying to figure out a way to shorten that list somehow (maybe with a clickable link to the other recipes?) so it isn’t so obnoxiously long, but this is what we’re working with today.

If you aren’t familiar with bitters but they sound cool, here are my thoughts. Head to a crafty bar or gastropub and taste taste taste. It’s all in the name of research. Even buy a bottle of bitters and make some of your own cocktails. Determine if you actually enjoy bitters and drinks made with bitters. Don’t be afraid of these recipes below if you haven’t tried bitters before. Example: if you don’t care for vodka, don’t shy away from the grapefruit bitters completely just because they are made with vodka. A few drops in a different cocktail? You won’t even be able to tell it’s vodka and you may love them.

Just my two cents.

To make a long story long, below are the combinations I used. They are by no means a perfect “recipe,” but my first method. I’m super happy with the results and can’t believe I had the patience to do something like this. I must be growing up.

Oh and as a final note, I found the best places to order these crazy herbs were from dandelion botanical and mountain rose herbs. Sure, I felt like I was having a box full of drugs delivered to my door (do not fear, I wasn’t and I’m just ignorant) but hey… gotta do what you gotta do. Now get to work! You can have these done by Christmas. Hint hint.

Homemade Cocktail Bitters

Yield:these bitters make about 4 (2-ounce) bottles each

Ingredients:

things you need in general for bitters
-a bunch of mason jars or containers, an assortment of bittering herbs and aromatics, high-proof alcohol, such as 101 proof bourbon, 151 proof rum or vodka, flavor agents, like fruits, citrus peels and vanilla beans, bottles with droppers or small jars to store the liquid in, fine mesh sieves, coffee filters and/or cheesecloth for straining-

*please note that tonka beans are not illegal to purchase, but i believe it is illegal for restaurants to use them in food in the US. apparently when ingested in large quantities, they can be toxic. before using them, i suggest doing your own research. i felt comfortable enough to purchase a few and only used them to infuse the alcohol.

After 5 days, strain jar #3, removing all the herbs and anything that has settled on the bottom. Place the bitters back in the jar (cleaned or at least free of any bitter "sediment") until ready to use. After 10 days, strain jars #1 and #2, and combine them together into one jar. Allow the mixture to sit for 3 days.
Now it's time to combine your bitters! I found that I needed to strain mine again, so do that if needed. You want them as clear as possible. There is no set "recipe" here - simply combine a few ounces of the cherry vanilla liquid and a few ounces of the bittering liquid until it reaches a bitterness you are content with. One you find it, use a mini funnel (I actually use parchment paper rolled into a funnel) and add the bitters to a jar with a dropper. Let them sit for another week before use, straining once again if needed before use. I found that the final strain got them super clear.

After 5 days, strain jar #3, removing all the herbs and anything that has settled on the bottom. Place the bitters back in the jar (cleaned or at least free of any bitter "sediment") until ready to use. After 10 days, strain jars #1 and #2, and combine them together into one jar. Allow the mixture to sit for 3 days.
After 3 days, strain your jars again add 1/4 cup simple syrup to the chocolate-flavored jar. Combine a few ounces of the chocolate liquid and a few ounces of the bittering liquid until it reaches a bitterness you are content with. Once you find it, use a mini funnel and add the bitters to a jar with a dropper. Let them sit for another week before use, straining once again if needed before use. I found that the final strain got them super clear.

After 5 days, strain jar #2, removing all the herbs and anything that has settled on the bottom. Place the bitters back in the jar (cleaned or at least free of any bitter "sediment") until ready to use. After 10 days, strain jar #1. Allow the mixture to sit for 3 days.
After 3 days, strain your jars again add 1/4 cup simple syrup to the grapefruit-flavored jar. Combine a few ounces of the grapefruit liquid and a few ounces of the bittering liquid until it reaches a bitterness you are content with. Once you find it, use a mini funnel and add the bitters to a jar with a dropper. Let them sit for another week before use, straining once again if needed before use. I found that the final strain got them super clear.

strawberry ginger one-jar bitters
Combine all ingredients together in one jar and let them sit for 10 days. Store the jar in cool, dark place and shake it once per day.
After 10 days, strain the jar to remove the ingredients and sediment from the bottom. Let the mixture sit for another 3 days and strain again. Add the mixture to dropper jars, straining one more time in another day or two to remove any bits from the bottom.

Oh my gosh, this is fascinating! I am definitely a newbie when it comes to bitters (as in I didn’t know what they were at all until reading this post, other than something that you’d add to a drink) but thank you for this little lesson this morning! ) PS you weren’t kidding when you said you were doing everything possible to use up your vanilla beans!

Omg this is awesome. I love bitters and have never had anything close to some of these amazing combos you came up with (and in the liquor store what they do have, it’s horribly over-priced I find!). And the workload of this post…all the recipes, typing, thanks for sharing it all.

So, in my family, we pick names at Christmas – but even with two sisters, I managed to somehow pull my brother-in-law. Love him, but…I am no good at buying man stuff. He would probably appreciate some homemade bitters though.

Such a cool post–I honestly can say that I’ve never had bitters (I’m a wuss when it comes to cocktails–excluding wine and beer, which don’t count, really), but now I’m totally intrigued. This post was so informative!

This post is ridiculously amazing. The photos are fantastic [love the collage with the star of anise!]!!! Also, I think this qualifies you as crafty. I know they’re recipes but they’re pretty craft-like and live in cute glass jars with a dropper. Way to go, lady. ;)

i ordered them online from dandelion botanical (linked above) – i’m honestly not sure if there is somewhere to get them locally, but i bet there is. i just didn’t have the patience to look. i will now though!

I been making mine own bitters too. They are the highlight of my kitchen cabinate. Some of those combo you have are awesome. I like to use cranberries with coffee in mine, weird I know but it really works.

Ever since seeing on IG that you were doing this, I have been waiting anxiously! Even my husband asks me ‘did Jessica post about homemade bitters yet?’ We were just about to buy some Peychaud bitters (we don’t do Angostura because Peychaud are Southern), but I held out for these recipes!
THANK YOU THANK YOU! :)

This is rad. The cherry vanilla sounds effing delicious. I’m really into old fashioneds and have found that depending on what kind of bitters is added really makes the drink good or blah. My favorite is from a bar in San Francisco and they use peach bitters. Umm..yes. I kinda want to do this during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Good lil’ family project!

I LOVE THIS! The hubs and I went to a cocktail class at Oven & Shaker, great restaurant in Portland, OR, and he showed us how to use bitters. Makes such a difference! This looks like so much fun. Thanks for doing all the research for a great post!

Hey! This would make an awesome Christmas gift for my father-in-law who is ALL about having a superbly stocked bar with all sorts of options. I’m not huge into bitters personally, so I think I would super fail if I tried to taste test. Do you have general guideline for a basic flavor liquid to bitters liquid ratio? Thanks! :D

Question – in the Strawberry Ginger bitters, the ingredient list doesn’t actually call for ginger root. Or, it that a typo and it should not be in the grapefruit bitters? Sorry to ask, but I’m headed to our local herbalist to order the ingredients. GOTTA TRY THESE!!!

Gurrrl – I was crushing hard on your site before. Now I’m in LO-HUV! What’s the verdict on herb-based bitters? Any idea how rosemary, basil, sage, etc would fare as bitter recipe components? I’m a big herb-nerd…in case that was obvious. xo

i think bitters with herbs like that would be incredible. i steered clear this first time because i’m going to give some as gifts and needed some safer options. but can you imagine rosemary or basil bitters in a grapefruit vodka/gin cocktail? GAH.

That scene where Ryan Gosling makes Emma Stone the Old Fashioned is EPIC! I have never seen a sexier old fashioned. It made me want to go out and buy sugar cubes. I love bitters. PS bitters mixed with some club soda cures stomach aches.

Any way to estimate how much you ordered of all the special ingredients?? Would LOVE to do this for Christmas but not sure how much to order to make all the recipes :) Such a great idea, thanks for sharing!

i swear this is the hardest part, haha. i ordered WAY too much stuff! and everything weighs different amounts so it’s very hard to judge. but for an example – i ordered 4 oz of gentian, cassia and tonka (all heavier things) and it was more than enough for all of this (and some other experimental ones i had going on.)

I’ve looked at almost all the sites you linked to because I haven’t been able to find bitters I liked and wanted to make my own. However, it all seemed too much, so I gave up. You have given me hope! I’m so pumped to start making Old Fashions with cherry-vanilla recipe! Awesome!

What if I made them all one jarred? Do you think it would work? Did you have a lit extra of one or the other? I found an orange bitters recipe and an herb one like angostura. Just ordered some ingredients! Wish I would’ve seen this first!

You are amazing! I can’t believe you did all this!
I’ve never had bitters before (I know, I know) and now this makes me want to go try them! I love projects like this, so I’d be totally in for making them!

Well I love the idea of concocting things and have begun research on bitters, and shrubs and how about pine syrup. I love the research as much as the actual project. Though I’m not a drinker, I can recommend Swedish bitters for a hangover:)
Great post here and I look forward to giving it a hard study. I’m going to check out the new Bar Sajor in Seattle and hope to get some good tasting in.
Great photos!

I crazy stupid LOVED that movie, and OH MY Ryan Gosling that man makes me swoon like no other! I think your reason for making bitters is perfectly reasonable because now I want to do the same! And cherry vanilla?! Mmmmm! After finals are done, weekend project here I come!

This is fantastic. Definitely going to make some stellar christmas presents. Question! Apparently these days it’s rather difficult to find 101 proof bourbon – at least where I’m from – is the alcohol part of the recipe imperatively dark? Or could I perhaps substitute vodka? I know this is a science, but just curious.

Jessica, thank you for this post!! I had no idea what bitters were! Last week, I posted a recipe for a Maple Cider Twist on the Rocks and got a ton of questions about bitters. I didn’t know where to begin to answer them. Then, I saw your post and shared it with my followers!! Thanks again. I don’t know if I can conquer them on my own with my kiddos in tow, but I can certainly appreciate them more in my cocktails when I’m out to dinner, sans kids :)

I’m the founder/moderator for Punk Domestics (www.punkdomestics.com), a community site for those of use obsessed with, er, interested in DIY food. It’s sort of like Tastespotting, but specific to the niche. I’d love for you to submit this to the site. Good stuff!

I always wondered why bitters were so dang expensive to buy and now I understand why after reading your ingredient list and process! I live in a part of the country where old fashioneds are a staple–especially with a fish fry on Friday night. There is a place called Nelson’s Pub on Washington Island in Door County, wI that is known for serving shots of bitters.

Thanks for the recipes and the inspiration to make some home made bitters.

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I’m Jessica and this is where I share my stuff. You will find a balance of healthy recipes, comfort food and indulgent desserts.

I am madly, passionately, inexplicably in love with food. Bacon makes me beam. Chocolate makes me shout from the rooftops with joy. Vegetables and I are the best of frenemies. My perfect world would include none of them.
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